The autism thread

[wiggy001]

Premature said:

Recently

As others have said, this doesn't sound like autism to me in my limited experience, mainly because these changes are recent and after an event. Autism isn't something you develop - it's part of who you are so is with you from birth. I therefore think you would have noticed things before now.

[gazza285]

wiggy001 said:

Premature said:

Recently

As others have said, this doesn't sound like autism to me in my limited experience, mainly because these changes are recent and after an event. Autism isn't something you develop - it's part of who you are so is with you from birth. I therefore think you would have noticed things before now.

Our youth was happily bimbling through junior school, he had the odd episode of obstinance, but nothing to give us real concern about his behaviour. This changed when he started high school, but nothing major. During and after the Christmas break though the wheels came off altogether, and he did not attend school for ten months. The change in behaviour was a surprise, nothing had been flagged as a possible issue from his primary or junior school, and nothing had been noted during his first term of high school.

His anxiety about returning to high school was the trigger, and the loss of the family cat in early February pushed him over the edge, so it is possible that the split of the parents have brought his symptoms to a noticeable level.

Getting a proper diagnosis, however, was a much more drawn out affair...

[sparkyhx]

its conceivable that the breakup and resulting 'change' has resulted in his anxiety levels rising and his normal coping mechanisms are out of kilter. There could be some low level 'bullying' at school about the breakup. I experienced it when my parents did, but that was 40 years ago.

As people have said you don't develop autism, but problems can start to manifest as you get older and the world becomes more complex to navigate. Puberty is often a trigger point, body changing, usually timed with more complex relationships with peers, change to senior school environment from close nit primary etc.

I'd tend to agree with others that the most likely cause is a natural reaction, unless there are other signs and possibly things in the past start to make sense with hindsight. Both my daughter and son were diagnosed in their teens, but looking back the signs were there when they were in primary school we just didnt see them even though I was diagnosed.

Keep an eye on things and see how they pan out.

[dhutch]

Interesting piece in the news about child mental heath management, specifically those with autism or and LD.
- Nothing will change fast, but as someone who I think was very lucky to end up in a good special needs school, which are few and far between, any publicity for a need to improve in this area has to be a good thing.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48329398


Daniel

[NormalWisdom]

dhutch said:

Interesting piece in the news about child mental heath management, specifically those with autism or and LD.
- Nothing will change fast, but as someone who I think was very lucky to end up in a good special needs school, which are few and far between, any publicity for a need to improve in this area has to be a good thing.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48329398


Daniel

Just one side of the story though.

My daughter (25) has taken 3 overdoses in the past 3 weeks resulting in admission to A&E, MH assessment, being given capacity and released. She first attempted suicide 7 years ago, recently had her daughter removed (lives with Father) and will continue until she succeeds unless some action is taken by the MH partnership in question. Me and my ex-wife have tried unsuccessfully for the last 7 years to get her sectioned and properly assessed/treated. We have now involved MPs as the MH folk just refuse to listen - things might take a turn for the better but, years of banging our heads against brick walls leaves us with heavy scepticism.

[solo2]

My son, 14 later this year was diagnosed in February 2017 with Asperger's. He has always been a bit different and has become more noticeable as he has got older. Now I know what the signs were they were always there but his Primary school instead blamed his social skills on my parenting.

What I'm struggling with right now is trying to get my son an EHCP so that the school he goes to has some funding to help him but my local council Sutton will not give any child like him an EHCP. His education is being affected and instead of becoming a useful member of society and holding down a job when he is older is steadily moving into never being able to be employed and spending his life on benefits and having no self worth.

The real salt in the wounds here is that about a year ago a small independent school opened less than quarter of a mile from us (still within London Borough of Sutton) especially for kids with autism but you have to have an EHCP to get in. Guess what - not a single child who lives in Sutton goes there. My son would flourish there but I feel powerless to help him.

Edited by solo2 on Wednesday 7th December 17:37

[wiggy001]

solo2 said:

My son, 14 later this year was diagnosed in February 2017 with Asperger's. He has always been a bit different and has become more noticeable as he has got older. Now I know what the sings were they were always there but his Primary school instead blamed his social skills on my parenting.

What I'm struggling with right now is trying to get my son an EHCP so that the school he goes to has some funding to help him but my local council Sutton will not give any child like him an EHCP. His education is being affected and instead of becoming a useful member of society and holding down a job when he is older is steadily moving into never being able to be employed and spending his life on benefits and having no self worth.

The real salt in the wounds here is that about a year ago a small independent school opened less than quarter of a mile from us (still within London Borough of Sutton) especially for kids with autism but you have to have an EHCP to get in. Guess what - not a single child who lives in Sutton goes there. My son would flourish there but I feel powerless to help him.

I'm no expert on this (we haven't gone down this route yet as Victoria luckily goes to a really good school with good provision already) but there is a lot of info online (eg here) on the criteria and the law around EHCPs.

Don't back down on this... it's too important to let the LA turn you down for illegitimate reasons.

Good luck.

[kurt535]

solo2 said:

My son, 14 later this year was diagnosed in February 2017 with Asperger's. He has always been a bit different and has become more noticeable as he has got older. Now I know what the sings were they were always there but his Primary school instead blamed his social skills on my parenting.

What I'm struggling with right now is trying to get my son an EHCP so that the school he goes to has some funding to help him but my local council Sutton will not give any child like him an EHCP. His education is being affected and instead of becoming a useful member of society and holding down a job when he is older is steadily moving into never being able to be employed and spending his life on benefits and having no self worth.

The real salt in the wounds here is that about a year ago a small independent school opened less than quarter of a mile from us (still within London Borough of Sutton) especially for kids with autism but you have to have an EHCP to get in. Guess what - not a single child who lives in Sutton goes there. My son would flourish there but I feel powerless to help him.

Im guessing you also have a ILP for him? WHat has the school said? Are they an academy or still cc?

[solo2]

kurt535 said:

Im guessing you also have a ILP for him? WHat has the school said? Are they an academy or still cc?

I've had zero help or assistance since diagnosis. What's an ILP?

His school is an Academy

[dhutch]

Hound them till it happens.

I have no knowledge of the details, but as someone who was slipping through the net come the backend of primary, moving to a small high quality weekly boarding state funded special needs school at the age of 10 made all the different for me I'm sure.

It wasn't an easy time, but it got easier with time as a grew up, and I came out with a good set of qualifications which set me up well. Too young to know what strings where pulled on for that.

Going in to college we ended up finding and paying for an ed phyc from the nextdoor local authority (north Wales fwiw) who did an assessment which freed up some support tutor time in frees between classes and secured extra time in exams.

Daniel

[kurt535]

solo2 said:

kurt535 said:

Im guessing you also have a ILP for him? WHat has the school said? Are they an academy or still cc?

I've had zero help or assistance since diagnosis. What's an ILP?

His school is an Academy

Ok, there's the problem. Academies are notorious for dragging their feet on this. My advice to you is to gather your evidence and email the school for a meeting with the SENCO officer to discuss your concerns.

Following the meeting, email them back with what was discussed. Note and log times dates and issues you had. DO NOT rely on telephone conversations that they can later on deny.

If your child is evidencing SEN/EBD issues then an Individual Learning Plan needs to be put in place by the school asap. The fact the school has not done this following a diagnosis is very wrong on their part and, potentially, illegal.

[solo2]

kurt535 said:

solo2 said:

kurt535 said:

Im guessing you also have a ILP for him? WHat has the school said? Are they an academy or still cc?

I've had zero help or assistance since diagnosis. What's an ILP?

His school is an Academy

Ok, there's the problem. Academies are notorious for dragging their feet on this. My advice to you is to gather your evidence and email the school for a meeting with the SENCO officer to discuss your concerns.

Following the meeting, email them back with what was discussed. Note and log times dates and issues you had. DO NOT rely on telephone conversations that they can later on deny.

If your child is evidencing SEN/EBD issues then an Individual Learning Plan needs to be put in place by the school asap. The fact the school has not done this following a diagnosis is very wrong on their part and, potentially, illegal.

Ah right. I think this might be where he does not qualify - I'm not sure. He is doing well in classes and is in top sets for most things but he gets easily distracted but others and then it is hard to re-settle him and get him back to working. Lots of time is wasted in lessons because of this for him at least He seems to achieve good grades with minimal effort and they have let him slip by as he is meeting their targets. The school only seems to care about meeting the Government targets and not about the kids, they say they do but it's obvious they don't now he is my second child to go through this school What he is struggling with at school and this is where I feel and EHCP might help - and please feel free to correct me if I am wrong but he needs help with his social interaction and dealing with communicating with others whether that be another pupil or teacher.

A couple of weeks ago he was in a foul mood due to an altercation with other students that had just occurred during lesson changeover and the Assistant Head came around the corner and greeted my son asking in a throw away comment was he ok, the sort of comment most people accept as nothing. He absolutely let rip and verbally at the Assistant Head in front of other students whilst the guy was shocked by the verbal tirade that came his way and unaware of why my son was doing it. I got the customary phone call from the Assistant head a few hours later explaining what had occurred and could my son possibly go give him an apology as he could not be seen to speak to a member of staff like that . I do agree with that but the school are well aware my son is picked on on purpose to provoke a reaction by kids in all years and yet they have done very little about it. I had hoped some extra funding might mean he could have an adult escort him between classes and teach him how to deal with other children.

Maybe I'm off on the wrong tangent here but I just want my son to have the same education other have and be able to hold down a job in later life

[grumbledoak]

New blood test for Autism gives 92% accuracy
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320962.p...

Sugar.

[The Moose]

solo2 said:

The real salt in the wounds here is that about a year ago a small independent school opened less than quarter of a mile from us (still within London Borough of Sutton) especially for kids with autism but you have to have an EHCP to get in. Guess what - not a single child who lives in Sutton goes there. My son would flourish there but I feel powerless to help him.

This might be a weird question, but have you considered moving into an area when you can get an EHCP? Even if it's temporary?

[wiggy001]

I became aware that The Autism Show is happening next weekend in London - anyone have any thoughts on it?

I might go (nothing to lose) just to see if I learn anything, but wondered if anyone had been to anything similar.

[wiggy001]

Since Victoria's diagnosis I've been trying to learn what I can about the condition. Just wanted to share that Ten things every child with autism wishes you knew is an excellent book in my opinion.

Easy to read, but on everything page I'm nodding, agreeing and realising why Victoria does the things she does!

Well recommended for anyone that wants to understand the condition more from a real-world point of view.

[sparkyhx]

solo2 said:

kurt535 said:

Im guessing you also have a ILP for him? WHat has the school said? Are they an academy or still cc?

I've had zero help or assistance since diagnosis. What's an ILP?

His school is an Academy

Unfortunately you have to fight, fight fight and er fight. Especially these days with significantly reduced funding. CC and academy schools can be both hit and miss - academies in theory have the flexibility to cope with adjusted curriculum if that is required BUT are more prone to limited funding issues as they have a bottom line. They also tend to exclude more than CC schools.

ILP/IEP is a less formal EHCP all of which are allegedly fraught with problems and 'influence' around funding and many appeals can ensue.

[sparkyhx]

kurt535 said:

solo2 said:

kurt535 said:

Im guessing you also have a ILP for him? WHat has the school said? Are they an academy or still cc?

I've had zero help or assistance since diagnosis. What's an ILP?

His school is an Academy

Ok, there's the problem. Academies are notorious for dragging their feet on this. My advice to you is to gather your evidence and email the school for a meeting with the SENCO officer to discuss your concerns.

Following the meeting, email them back with what was discussed. Note and log times dates and issues you had. DO NOT rely on telephone conversations that they can later on deny.

If your child is evidencing SEN/EBD issues then an Individual Learning Plan needs to be put in place by the school asap. The fact the school has not done this following a diagnosis is very wrong on their part and, potentially, illegal.

sound advice - always document and record - if you must have a telephone call - write it down and send it as playback.

[sparkyhx]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Large part genetic i'm afraid. In mine and my wifes experience dealing with the teens end, either the diagnosis triggers a light bulb realisation in the parents or we see parents who often do not realise they are clearly showing traits themselves, but are in blissful ignorance/denial

[sparkyhx]

My son graduated from Teacher training yesterday, he like me is diagnosed with Aspergers, Proud dad was there to see him. :-)